Famous Jews
__TOC__ The following is an alphabetical list of famous Jews, notable followers of Judaism (either from birth or following conversion) or people who professed a Jewish cultural identity. The list includes people who distinguished themselves in the fields of religious scholarship, science, politics, literature, business, art, entertainment and sport amongst others. A * Paula Abdul (born 1962) American singer. * Jason Alexander (born 1959) American actor, comedian and singer. * Woody Allen (born 1935) American actor, comedian and movie director. * Alan Arkin (born 1954) American actor. * Tom Arnold (born 1959) American actor and comedian, converted to Judaism in 1990. * Isaac Asimov (1920 -1992) American professor of biochemistry, author of science-fiction, fantasy, mysteries and non-fiction books on science, history, Shakespeare and the Bible. Born in Petrovichi, Russia. * Hank Azaria (born 1964) American actor, voice of many characters on The Simpsons. B * David Baddiel (born 1964) British comedian, novelist and television presenter. * Sacha Baron-Cohen (born 1971) British actor and comedian whose characters include Ali G, Bruno and Borat. * Roseanne Barr (born 1952) American actress, comedienne, writer, TV producer and diirector. * Lionel Bart (1930 -1999) British composer of pop music and musicals, wrote the musical Oliver! * Jon "Bowzer" Bauman (born 1947) American musician. * Saul Bellow (1915 - 2005) Canadian-born author. * Milton Berle (1908 - 2002) American comedian and actor. * Irving Berlin (1888 - 1989) American composer and lyricist, one of the most famous and prodigious songwriters in history. Ironically, his compositions included White Christmas and Easter Parade. * Sarah Bernhardt (1844 -1923) World-famous French stage actress. * Joe Besser (1907 - 1988) American comedian, one of seven performers who at various times formed part of The Three Stooges. * Jack Black (born 1969) American actor, comedian and musician. * David Blaine (born 1973) American magician. * Mel Blanc (1908 - 1989) American comedian and voice actor, voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and many more cartoon characters. * Jerrold Lewis "Jerry" Bock (1928-2010) American musical theater composer, Tony and Pulitzer prize winner, composed music for Fiddler on the Roof * Marc Bolan (1947 -1977) British musician from the band T-Rex. * Helena Bonham Carter (born 1966) British actress. * Issy Bonn (1893 - 1977) British actor, singer and comedian. Popularized the song My Yiddishe Momme in Britain. * Victor Borge (1909 - 2000) Danish-born comedian, pianist and conductor. * Bernard Bresslaw (1934 -1993) British comedy actor * Fanny Brice (1891 - 1951) American comedienne, singer, radio, film and theater actress.. * Matthew Broderick (born 1962) American stage and film actor. * Adrien Brody (born 1973) American actor. * Elkie Brooks (born 1945) British singer. * Mel Brooks (born 1926) American comedy actor, director and movie producer. * George Burns (1896 - 1996) American comedian, actor and writer whose career spanned seven decades * Red Buttons (1919 - 2006) American comedian and actor.. C * James Caan (born 1940) American actor. * Eddie Cantor (1892 - 1964) American comedian, actor, singer and songwriter. * Nell Carter (1948 - 2003) American actress and singer, converted to Judaism in 1982. * Marc Chagall (1887 - 1985) Russian-French artist. * Sir Ernst Chain (1906 -1979) British scientist, Nobel Prize winner in 1945, co-developer of penicillin. Born in Berlin, Germany. * Noam Chomsky (born 1928) American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist and political activist. * Alma Cogan (1932 - 1966) British pop singer. * Leonard Cohen (born 1934) Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. * Joan Collins (born 1933) British actress. * Billy Crystal (born 1948) American comedian, actor, writer, producer and director. * Edwina Currie (born 1946) British novelist and broadcaster, former Member of Parliament and Junior Health Minister. * Jamie Lee Curtis (born 1958) Golden Globe-winning American film actress, successful writer of books for children. * Tony Curtis (1925 - 2010) American actor. D * Rodney Dangerfield (1921 - 2004) American comedian and actor. * Craig David (born 1981) British R&B singer-songwriter. * Larry David (born 1947) American actor, writer, comedian and producer. * Sammy Davis, JR. (1925 - 1990) American entertainer, converted to Judaism following a car accident in 1954. * Neil Diamond (born 1941) American singer-songwriter. * Benjamin Disraeli (1804 -1881) First Earl of Beaconsfield, Prime Minister of Great Britain. * Kirk Douglas (born 1916) American actor and film producer. * Alfred Dreyfus (1859 - 1935) French army officer who was falsely convicted of treason. * Rene Dreyfus (1905 -1993) French racing driver. E * Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) American physicist, Nobel Prize winner, Zionist. Born in Ulm, Germany. * Ray Ellington (1916 - 1985) British jazz musician. * Harlan Ellison (born 1934) American writer, chiefly of science-fiction. * Ben Elton (born 1959) British comedian, author, playwright and television director. F * Marty Feldman (1934 - 1982) British comedian, comedy writer and actor. * Richard Feynman (1918 - 1988) American physicist, text book writer. * Larry Fine (1902 - 1975) American comedian, one of seven performers who at various times formed part of The Three Stooges. * Eddie Fisher (1928 - 2010) American entertainer. * Bud Flanagan (1896 - 1968) British comedian and singer, at the height of his popularity during World War II. * Max Fleischer (1883 - 1972) American animator, creator of Koko the Klown and Betty Boop, maker of the first animated Popeye cartoons. Born in Krakow, Poland. * Harrison Ford (born 1942) American actor. * Anne Frank (1929 - 1945) Dutch teenage Holocaust victim and diarist. * Sir Clement Freud (1924 - 2009) British politician, writer, broadcaster and chef. * Lucian Freud (born 1922) British artist. * Sigmund Freud (1885 - 1939) Austrian physician, the father of psychoanalysis. * Debbie Friedman (born 1952) American musician. G * Serge Gainsbourg (1928 -1991) French singer-songwriter, actor and director. * Art Garfunkel (born 1941) American musician. * Mordechai Gebirtig (1877-1942) Yiddish songwriter and Holocaust victim * Uri Geller (born 1946) Israeli who claims to have supernatural psychic abilities. * Melissa Gilbert (born 1964) American actress, writer and producer. Starred in Little House on the Prairie as a child actress. * Jeff Goldblum (born 1952) American actor. * Elliot Gould (born 1938) American actor. * Seth Green (born 1974) American actor, comedian and television producer. * Norman Greenbaum (born 1942) American singer-songwriter, best known for his song Spirit in the Sky * Hank Greenberg (1911 - 1986) American professional baseball player. * Jake Gyllenhaal (born 1980) American actor. H *Goldie Hawn (born 1945) American actress, film director and producer. *Joseph Heller (1923 -1999) American novelist, author of Catch 22. *Dustin Hoffman (born 1937) American actor, two time Academy Award winner. *Harry Houdini (1874 -1926) American magician, escapologist and debunker of the supposedly supernatural. Born in Budapest, Hungary. *Curly Howard (1903 -1952) American comedian, one of seven performers who at various times formed part of The Three Stooges. *Leslie Howard (1893 - 1943) British actor, played Ashley Wilkes in Gone With The Wind. *Moe Howard (1897 -1975) American comedian, one of seven performers who at various times formed part of The Three Stooges. *Shemp Howard (1895 -1955) American comedian, one of seven performers who at various times formed part of The Three Stooges. *Sarah Hughes (born 1985) American figure-skater, Olympic gold-medalist. I *Jason Isaacs (born 1963) British actor, best known for playing Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies. J * Flory Jagoda (born 1925) American musician, composer of Ocho kandelikas. Born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. * Sid James (1913 - 1976) British comedy actor. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa. * Billy Joel (born 1949) American pianist, singer-songwriter and classical composer. * Scarlett Johansson (born 1984) American actress and singer. * Al Jolson (1886 - 1950) American singer, comedian and actor, star of the 1927 film, The Jazz Singer. Born in Seredzius, Lithuania. * Lesley Joseph (born 1945) British actress, best known in Britain for playing the Jewish character Dorien Green in the BBC sitcom Birds of a Feather. K * Franz Kafka (1883 -1924) Czech author who wrote in German. * Bob Kane (1915 - 1998) American comic book artist and writer, creator of Batman. * Danny Kaye (1913 - 1987) American comedian, actor and singer. * Miriam Karlin (born 1925) British actress, starred as the Jewish ghos, Mrs. Yetta Feldman in the BBC sit-com [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So_Haunt_Me So Haunt Me]. * Harvey Keitel (born 1939) American actor. * Henry Kissinger (born 1923) German-born former U.S. Secretary of State. * Calvin Klein (born 1942) American fashion designer. * Aaron Klug (born 1926) British scientist, winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Born in Zelva, Lithuania. * Walter Koenig (born 1936) American actor, director and teacher, best known for playing Ensign Chekov in Star Trek. * Arthur Koestler (1905 - 1983) Hungarian-born novelist and essayist who wrote in Hungarian, German and English. * Lisa Kudrow (born 1963) American actress, best known for playing Phoebe in the sit-com Friends. * Harvey Kurtzman (1924 - 1993) American cartoonist, founding editor of Mad magazine. L * Shia LaBeouf (born 1986) American movie actor. * Michael Landon (1936 - 1991) American actor, writer, director and producer. * Ralph Lauren (born 1939) American fashion designer and business executive. * Nigel Lawson (born 1932) British politician, former Chancellor of the Exchequer. * Nigella Lawson (born 1960) British food writer and TV chef. * Stan Lee (born 1922) American comic book writer, editor and publisher, co-creator of Spider-Man. * Mike Leigh (born 1943) British writer, film and theater director. * Claude Levi-Strauss (1908 - 2009) French anthropologist and ethnologist. * Uriah P. Levy (1792 -1862) (War of 1812) First Jewish U.S. Admiral, ended the practice of flogging, bought, restored and gave Montecello (Jefferson's home) as a gift to the American people. The first Jewish Chapel at the United States Naval Academy was named for him. * Jerry Lewis (born 1926) American comedian, actor, singer, film producer and director. * Maureen Lipman (born 1946) British actress, best known in Britain for playing "Jewish Mother" Beatie in a series of commericals for British Telecom. * Jon Lovitz (born 1957) American actor, comedian and singer. The first person to play Hanukkah Harry. M * Enrico Macias (born 1938) French musician, born in Constantine, Algeria. * Maimonides (1135 - 1204) Sephardi rabbi, philosopher and physician. * Howie Mandel (born 1955) Canadian-born TV presenter. * Barry Manilow (born 1943) American singer-songwriter and entertainer. * Bernard Manning (1930 - 2007) Controversial British stand-up comedian. * Marcel Marceau (1923 - 2007) French actor and mime. * Miriam Margoyles (born 1941) British actress. * The Marx Brothers American stage and film comedians, Chico Marx (1887 - 1961),Groucho Marx (1890 - 1977), Gummo Marx (1893 -1977, did not appear in films), Harpo Marx (1888 - 1954) and Zeppo Marx (1901 - 1979, appeared in the first five films only). * Karl Marx (1818 - 1883) German philosopher. * Jackie Mason (born 1936) American comedian and former rabbi. * Robert Maxwell (1923 - 1991) British media tycoon and Member of Parliament. Born in what is now Solotvino, Ukraine. * Golda Meir (1898 -1978) One of the founders and a prime minister of Israel. * Yehudi Menuhin (1916 - 1999) American-born violinist and conductor. * Don Messick (1926 - 1997) American voice actor, the voice of Scooby-Doo, Papa Smurf and many other cartoon characters. * Debra Messing (born 1968) American actress, best known for playing Grace Adler in Will and Grace. * Bette Midler (born 1945) American singer, actress and comedienne. * George Mikes (1912 - 1987) Hungarian-born British author, famous for his humorous commentaries on various countries. * Ed Miliband (born 1969) British politician, leader of the Labour Party. * Jonathan Miller (born 1934) British humorist, theater and opera director, famous intellectual. * Warren Mitchell (born 1926) British actor, played the lead role in the BBC sit-com Till Death Us Do Part, which was adapted in the U.S. as All in the Family. * Isaac Mizrahi (born 1961) American fashion designer. * Zero Mostel (1915 - 1977) American actor, originated the role of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway. N *Anthony Newley (1931 -1999) British singer, songwriter and actor. *Paul Newman (1925 - 2008) American actor, director, racing driver and co-founder of Newman's Own foods. * Leonard Nimoy (born 1931) American actor, best known for playing Mr. Spock in Star Trek. * Joshua Norton (1819 - 1880) The self proclaimed, His Imperial Majesty Emperor Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico. P * Sarah Jessica Parker (born 1965) American actress and producer. * Max Perutz (1914 - 2002) British molecular biologist, winner of 1962 Nobel Prize. Born in Vienna, Austria. * Pink (born 1979) American singer-songwriter. * Harold Pinter (1930 - 2008) British playwright. * Natalie Portman (born 1981) Israeli actress. * Emeric Pressburger (1902 - 1988) Hungarian-born, Academy Award winning screenwriter, film director and producer. R * Daniel Radcliffe (born 1989) British actor, best known for playing Harry Potter. * Joey Ramone (1951 - 2001) American punk rock vocalist. * Esther Rantzen (born 1940) British TV presenter, founder of the charity ChildLine. * David Rappaport (1951 - 1990) British actor, one of the best known dwarf actors in film and television. * Lou Reed (born 1942) American rock musician, songwriter and photographer. * Michael Rosen (born 1946) British children's novelist and poet, Britain's Children's Laureate from 2007 to 2009. * Leo Rosten (1908 - 1997) American writer, author of The Joys of Yiddish. Born in Lodz, Poland. * David Lee Roth (born 1954) American rock singer and radio personality. * Winona Ryder (born 1971) American actress. S * Andrew Sachs (born 1930) German-born British actor, best known for playing the Spanish waiter Manuel in Fawlty Towers. * Jonathan Sacks (born 1948) Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth (a UK position, not a Jewish position) * Oliver Sacks (born 1933) Professor of neurology and psychology at Columbia University, New York. Born in London, England. * Adam Sandler (born 1966) American actor, comedian and film producer. * Alexei Sayle (born 1952) British actor and comedian. * Rob Schneider (born 1963) American actor, comedian, writer and director. * David Schwimmer (born 1966) American actor, film and TV director, best known for playing Ross in the sit-com Friends. * Steven Seagal (born 1952) American actor, producer, writer and martial arts expert. * Jerry Seinfeld (born 1954) American comedian, actor and writer. * Peter Sellers (1925 - 1980) British actor and comedian, best known for playing Inspector Clouseau in the original Pink Panther films. * William Shatner (born 1931) Canadian actor, best known for playing Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek. * Dinah Shore (1915 - 1994) American singer, actress and television personality. * Joe Shuster (1914 - 1992) Canadian-born comic book artist, co-creator of Superman. * Jerry Siegel (1914 - 1996) American comic book writer, co-creator of Superman. * Phil Silvers (1911 - 1985) American comedy actor, best known for playing Sergeant Bilko. * Neil Simon (born 1947) American playwright. * Paul Simon (born 1941) American singer-songwriter. * Isaac Bashevis Singer (1902 - 1991) American writer, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1978. * Steven Spielberg (born 1946) American film director and producer. * Baruch Spinoza (1632 - 1677) Dutch philosopher. * William Steig (1907 - 2003) American cartoonist, sculptor and writer of children's books, creator of Shrek the ogre. * Gertrude Stein (1874 - 1976) American writer who spent most of her life in France. * Judith Steinberg Dean (born 1953) American physician, wife of Howard Dean, First Lady of Vermont (1991-2003). * Ben Stiller (born 1955) American comedian, actor, writer, film producer and director. * Sir Tom Stoppard (born 1937) British playwright. Born in Zlin, Czechoslovakia. * Leo Strauss (1899 - 1973) German-born political philosopher. * Barbra Streisand (born 1942) American singer, songwriter, actress and film maker. * Lord Alan Sugar (born 1947) British businessman, founder of Amstrad Computers, replaces Donald Trump in the British version of the TV series The Apprentice. T * Elizabeth Taylor (born 1932) British-American actress. * Topol (born 1935) Israeli stage and film performer, well known for playing Tevye, the milkman, in the film version of Fiddler on the Roof. * Leon Trotsky (1879 - 1940) Ukrainian-born Bolshevik revolutionary. * Barbara Tuchman (1912 -1989) American journalist, author and historian. * Sophie Tucker (1884 - 1966) Russian-born American actress and singer, popularized the song My Yiddishe Momme. W * Eli Wallach (born 1915) American actor, appeared in several spaghetti-westerns, played Tuco in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. * Sam Wanamaker (1919 - 1993) American-born actor and film director, founded the Shakespeare Globe Trust, to rebuild a replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theater in London. * Joseph Weizenbaum (1923 - 2008) German-American artificial intelligence critic, ELIZA programmer. * Elie Wiesel (born 1928) Romanian-born Holocaust survivor, Boston University professor, writer, political activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner. * Simon Wiesenthal (1908 - 2005) Austrian Holocaust survivor who became famous for his pursuit of Nazi war criminals. * Gene Wilder (born 1933) American film and theater actor, director and writer. * Amy Winehouse (born 1983) British singer-songwriter. * Henry Winkler (born 1945) American actor and producer, best known for playing The Fonz in Happy Days. Z * Ludwig Lazarus Zamenhof (1859 -1917) Polish creator of the constructed language Esperanto. Category:Biographies Category:Culture